Trump's historic hush money trial begins with jury selection Monday – Winnipeg Free Press

NEW YORK (AP) — In a landmark moment in American history, former President Donald Trump's money trial begins Monday with jury selection.

This is the first criminal trial of the former commander-in-chief and the first of four indictments against Trump. With Trump as the presumptive nominee for this year's Republican nomination, the trial also creates a dizzying display of a presidential candidate who spends his days in court and, he says, “campaigns at night.”

To some extent, it's a critique of the justice system itself, as it grapples with a defendant who has used his enormous authority to attack the judge, his daughter, the district attorney, some of the witnesses, and the prosecution — all while undermining the legitimacy of it all. in his opinion, the legal structure was taken over by his political opponents.

That being said, many ordinary citizens should be invited into a cavernous room in a utilitarian courthouse on Monday to see if they can serve fairly and impartially.

“The ultimate question is whether prospective jurors can convince us that they will cast aside any personal feelings or biases and make a decision based on the evidence and the law,” wrote Judge Juan M. Merchan in his statement on April 8.

Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records during his 2016 campaign as part of an effort to maintain false and misleading stories about his sex life.

The indictment is based on a $130,000 payment made by Trump's company to then-lawyer Michael Cohen. He paid that amount to prevent Trump from going public with porn actress Stormy Daniels' allegations that she had sex with the tycoon, whom he married a decade ago, a month before the election.

Prosecutors said the payments to Cohen were falsely registered as legal fees to conceal their true purpose. Trump's lawyers say the money is legal expenses, not a cover-up.

Trump himself has touted the case and his other indictments as a wide-ranging “law enforcement crackdown” by Democratic prosecutors and officials. He says they are orchestrating false accusations in hopes of disrupting his presidential bid.

After decades of litigation and prosecution, the businessman-turned-politician now faces up to four years in prison if convicted, but no jail time.

Regardless of the final outcome, the trial of the former president and current candidate is a particularly difficult moment for both the American political system and Trump himself. Such a scenario would once have seemed improbable to many Americans, even for a president whose tenure has left a trail of broken norms, including one twice impeached and acquitted by the Senate.

The scene in the courtroom can be met with the scene outside. When Trump was indicted last year, police broke up small skirmishes between his supporters and protesters near the courthouse in a small park where a local Republican group planned to hold a pro-Trump rally on Monday.

Trump's lawyers lost a bid to dismiss the hush money case and have since tried to delay it several times, sparking a flurry of last-minute appeals court hearings last week.

Among other things, Trump's lawyers argue that the jury in Democratic Manhattan was tainted by negative publicity about Trump and that the case should be moved elsewhere.

An appeals judge denied an emergency motion to adjourn the hearing, and the motion for a change of venue will be sent to a panel of appeals judges to be heard in the coming weeks.

Manhattan prosecutors countered that the publicity stemmed from Trump's own comments, and that the questioning would determine whether prospective jurors could overrule any preconceived notions they may have. Prosecutors say there's no reason to think it's impossible to find 12 fair and impartial people among Manhattan's roughly 1.4 million adults.

The process of selecting those 12 and six alternates begins with multiple applications for Merchan's courtroom. They will be known only by number because he has ordered that their names be kept secret from everyone except prosecutors, Trump and their legal teams.

After hearing some background about the case and juror service, prospective jurors are asked to raise their hands if they believe they cannot serve or be fair and impartial. According to Merchan's plea last week, those who do will be forgiven.

The rest will have the right to answer. 42 pre-approved, sometimes multi-pronged inquiries cover the background and also highlight the uniqueness of the case.

“Do you have any strong opinions or strong beliefs about former President Donald Trump or his current presidential candidacy that would prevent you from being a fair and impartial juror?” asks a question.

Others ask about attendance at Trump or anti-Trump rallies, opinions about how he is treated in the case, news sources, and more, including any “political, moral, intellectual or religious beliefs or opinions” that might “influence” a prospective juror's opinion. . approach to work.

Based on the answers, attorneys can ask a judge to remove people “for cause” if they meet certain criteria for incapacity or bias. Attorneys can also use “peremptory challenges” to terminate 10 potential jurors and two potential alternates without cause.

“If you hit everybody who's a Republican or a Democrat,” the judge noted at the February hearing, “you're going to run out of trials pretty quickly.”